Anchorage's surplus school buildings could bring in money, the district says

Surplus Anchorage school buildings could bring in money for the district, administrators told the school board Tuesday after months of talks with the mayor's office.

"There are some facilities that the district and board have already declared excess and there are other properties that we want to make the district aware of because there is a potential revenue opportunity," Superintendent Jharrett Bryantt said. Moving ahead, he said, "requires both administrations, the assembly, and school board to work in concert."

Two buildings are already in line. Under the rightsizing plan the board approved in February, the old Abbott Loop Elementary and Campbell STEM Elementary buildings are to be marked excess and returned to the Municipality of Anchorage once Rilke Schule relocates to the Lake Otis building.

Abbott Loop has no fire suppression system. It is approved for the Alaska Native Cultural Charter School through fiscal 2029, which leaves those families waiting on a municipal decision about whether the building gets renovated or torn down.

Campbell STEM arrives at the municipality with a harder history. The board voted in February to close it, along with Lake Otis and Fire Lake, as part of closing a $90 million budget shortfall. Parents formed the Campbell STEM Preservation and Education Foundation and sued in April, arguing the closure was arbitrary and capricious. A Superior Court judge dismissed the suit on Aug. 17.

Anchorage voters had approved more than $9 million for repairs at Campbell STEM in a prior bond package, money that became a point of contention once the school was slated to close. The district has said a portion is transferable to other projects and the rest could be redirected only if other bond work comes in under budget.

The district describes rightsizing as a multi-year effort to improve services, repurpose space and run more efficiently.